Month: January 2017

My training so far for the Virgin London Marathon has not gone to plan…. The latter part of last year I found myself with hip niggles and required a steroid jab in the joint. Two weeks into my training and I decided to stupidly train in the cold with a chest infection which resulted in trip to the hospital with Pneumonia. AHHHHHHHH…. Panic well and truly set in….

After my complete melt down, I started to put things into perspective. This is real life, things are going to get into the way – illnesses and injuries will occur. I’m not an Olympian, I’m not running a good for age place and I’m not going for a PB (whatever time I run, it will be a PB as I’m a first timer)….

Having got the green light from my Doctor I was told that I could return to running albeit slowly as I would have reduced lung capacity for a while. I was also told that I needed to keep warm which is a mission in its self at the moment with the weather on the verge of snowing…so it was time to visit the dreadmill….

View from the ‘dreadmill’

I managed a very gentle walk / run on the treadmill but nothing beats running outside – taking in the all the sights, and sounds… nonetheless, I am grateful to be able to be back into training……all be it gentle.

And so it’s back to the training plan. I am currently using the ASICS one (Asics.com) which sets me training sessions of three a week. In between these sessions, I will also be cross training, Body Pump and Yoga. I have recently taken up James Dunn’s 30 day challenge which concentrates on stretching, conditioning and resilience training for runner. Today’s session looked like this –

I will keep you updated with how this is going at a later date. I am RIDICULOUSLY injury prone and I am hoping this is going to make me a stronger runner by conditioning muscles I use regularly. (If you want to try this out yourself, check out http://www.kinetic-evolution.com)

From next week the mileage starts to build. Goodbye Sundays! I have been advised that tiredness is a side effect of pneumonia and so at least I can look forward to lots of sleep and sofa days!

Other aspects I really need to sort is my DIET! Dry January is working well for me so far, but I still can’t refuse those pesky crisps. I can easily eat three packets a day and still crave for more…

Luckily I have a really good support network and belong to a fantastic club called the Fareham Crusaders. I also have a close group of runners who I run with – I think this has a massive impact on your state of mind. Like all of us, I need a kick up the arse sometimes, or a massive reality check.

My aim is to enjoy the experience and be prepared for any challenges that may crop up between now and April. A wise person once said to me ‘if it doesn’t feel fun, don’t force the run’. I’m not totally naïve in thinking that the training is going to be all sunshine and flowers, but with a positive mind-set, supportive club and trusting in my own ability and training, I can make the journey a smoother one.